Qaddafi took power in 1969 through a military coup and has ruled since then without a constitution or elected parliament. In a bid to quell the rare unrest, Qaddafi on Wednesday offered to release 110 suspected Islamic militants and double civil servants’ salaries, the AP reported. The dictator’s proposal mirrors those made by other Arab regimes that faced protests in recent weeks.

Thursday’s protests fall on the anniversary of clashes that took place in Benghazi in 2006, when security forces killed at least 10 people who were protesting outside the city’s Italian consulate. That protest centered on an Italian minister who wore a T-shirt displaying cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the BBC reports.

A Facebook group calling for a “day of anger” saw its membership more than double this week, from 4,400 members on Monday to 9,600 on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera. On another website – Libya Our Home, which is based outside of Libya – Libyans and foreigners alike urged the protesters to stand strong against the government today.

“From every square in our beloved country, people should all come together in one city and one square to make this regime and its supporters afraid, and force them to run away because they are cowards,” one post read, according to an MSNBC translation from the website.

Protests began Tuesday after the arrest of human rights advocate Fathi Tarbel, the Washington Post reports, and quickly took on an antigovernment tone. Although the initial protest was small, it showed that Libyans were emboldened by protests elsewhere. Mr. Tarbel was released, but protests continued.

On Wednesday, demonstrators gathered in Benghazi and nearby Beyida to call for Qaddafi’s resignation and the establishment of a constitution, among other political and economic reforms. Marchers set fire to police stations and security headquarters, according to witnesses who spoke to The Washington Post.

It is unclear how many protesters were killed this week. According to the Associated Press, antigovernment websites are reporting that at least four were killed in Wednesday’s protest in Beyida, while Al Jazeera could confirm only the deaths of two protesters.